1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a mirror driving device for scanning a target area with a laser beam, a beam irradiation device having the mirror driving device, and a laser radar for detecting a state of the target area, based on a laser beam reflected from the target area.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, laser radars are used for providing security, such as detection of intrusion into buildings. Typically, a laser radar scans a target area with a laser beam and detects a presence of an object at a scan position when the laser radar receives reflected light from the object. With the laser radar, a distance between the object and the laser radar at the scan position is determined based on a time between emission and reception of the laser beam by the laser radar at the scan position.
A known actuator for scanning a laser beam includes, for example, a rotating body rotated by a motor, with a mirror mounted to the rotating body at an angle (see, for example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2011-169730). In this actuator, the rotating body is provided with both a mechanism for changing a degree of tilt of the mirror and a driving unit for driving the mechanism.